Shines Over: The Damned Review PS5: Are You Afraid Of The Dark?

It was a pleasant surprise to see Shines Over: The Damned for the PS5 in the inbox this week. It’s like bumping into one of your friends you haven’t seen in a while due to the busy lives you lead and saying, “You’ll have to come around when you’re free”, then they do, which is lovely, but now you’ve gotta find the biscuits.

There was a nice welcome for JuanMod and Firenut Games’ title, too. Looking at the release date (today), it occurred to me that in the week or so of not taking on any reviews due to playing Fortnite (yes, I know…) and spending more time with the kids, I might need to ‘bash this one out’ with haste.

Shines Over: The Damned is a PS5 exclusive where you arrive in a world of darkness with haunting visions, a woman trying to communicate as if behind a dream-like mirror, and a German shepherd (who doesn’t say much). 

Shines Over: The Damned Review PS5

Gamers who get itchy during an uncomfortable silence will be even more uncomfortable here, as this is a mysterious game. There’ll be a couple of signposts saying you can run and jump, but zero information on how to handle the miniguns, wands, and/or remote controls. There’s nothing here other than narrative threads to pull at, ‘something’ lurking in the darkness, and a fair amount of jumping and QTEs.

Let’s fetch a plate for our positive sandwich and start with the delicious outer part: the presentation. When sifting through Shines Over: The Damned’s screenshots when posting the release info, it was hard to pick out anything vibrant as it’s very… dark. Imagine my surprise when starting the game, as it looked like a tech demo. One of my children walked in and even asked what I was watching.

Shines Over: The Damned uses Megascans Technology – what that means in simple terms is the scenery is photorealistic, to the point of being unworldly. For the first few seconds, I was scanning around, looking at the dirt in admiration, at the lighting, and mildly filling my pants as I was reminded that this was a horror game. Not a conventional one, mind.

We All Experimented In College 

It’s more of an experimental experience – floaty in places, ethereal in others – and, for the most part, an immersive world. Interacting with it was a different kettle of fish. Shortly after taking in the dirt particles, it became clear there would be some jumping in the game. Expect a slight learning curve for timing a jump, and if this is a doddle, may I suggest Escape From Naraka?

Jumping into the darkness to land on a platform was tricky yet doable, whereas the puzzle elements in the game are simple – as are the QTEs where an entity will attack, and you have to spam the shoulder buttons. Easy. It then occurred to me that, taking into account the gorgeous visuals, first-person perspective and simple mechanics – Shines Over: The Damned is a walking simulator. That’s a neutral statement to offer some clarity.

I’m On A Boat (Again And Again)

Each area has a chapter – nothing that slows down the pace, just some subtle titles to frame an area. The boat section, as seen in the trailer, was dire. You travel downstream, moving left and right to collect optional orbs, avoid bird spectres, rocks, and invisible assets. As a completionist, I had to get the orbs (unlocks trophies), though if you miss them, you can’t go back unless you die. ‘Fortunately’ death, rather, re-attempts, are frequent.

It got to the point where I just tried to sail through without collecting anything but would repeatedly ‘die’ when not hitting anything. Without hints on what to do, and with no neon signs saying, ‘press this button to get out of the boat and get on with it, ‘ I was done and consequently in a bad mood. 

Upon reflection at this point, there hadn’t been anything memorable about Shines Over: The Damned. Sure, it looked good; the Parasite Eve-like modelling of the mysterious person trying to contact you and the ambiguous nature of the world was in tune with my tastes, but it didn’t feel like the high-tension exploration on the label. The oppressive element was there, however.

Shines Over: The Damned Review Summary

Shines Over: The Damned reminds me of the games by Tonguç Bodur – visually stunning, high concept, yet lacking immersive gameplay and almost, well… dull. You know the drill – check out other reviews before committing. In fear of blackballing, that’s my honest assessment.